1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to wire and cable. More specifically, it relates to an improved wire or cable dispensing reel apparatus incorporating lockable inner and outer flanges and a locking mechanism for enhanced wire or cable payoff.
2. Description of Related Art
Wire and cable are often transported from the site of manufacture to the site of installation using metal and wooden reels. These reels have dimensions of up to 48 inches or larger and carry thousands of pounds of cable or wire. In order to dispense the wire or cable from these reels for installation, the reels must be able to freely spin in order to pay out the wire or cable. The size and weight of the reels when carrying cable or wire present many problems associated with installation at the installation site. In order to dispense wire, the typical method is to lift the reel off of the ground and place it on supporting stands called jack stands. This method is not ideal because it requires additional heavy machinery and personnel to lift the reel onto the jack stands. Additionally, the jack stands occupy space at an installation site where such space may be scarce.
Moreover, many installations require multiple wires to be dispensed and installed together. Traditionally, this requires a reel for each wire and a jack stand for each reel, which further compounds the issues discussed above.
One prior art solution is to deliver the reel on a pre-assembled jack stand affixed to a flat-bed delivery vehicle, such as a semi-trailer truck. This solution, however, requires even more space at the installation site to park the semi-trailer. Additionally, the size of the jack stands limits the number of reels that can fit onto a semi-trailer. Another prior art solution involves the use of portable jack stands that include a built-in lifting mechanism. This solution still requires that the reels be lifted off of the ground and placed in a jack stand. Moreover, this solution requires the use of additional pieces of equipment with associated costs and space requirements.
A prior art solution of dispensing multiple wires includes incorporating multiple bays in one reel, which each wire spooled into each bay. This solution is susceptible to the faults of the prior art solutions discussed above. Additionally, in some installations, at least one wire may be of a different thickness than the remaining wires. In this situation, for each rotation of the reel, more wire of the smaller diameter is dispensed than of the larger diameter wire often causes twists, kinks, or other issues related to efficiently dispensing a plurality of wires for installation at the same time.
Therefore, a need exists for a method and apparatus that allows a plurality of wire or cable to be dispensed from a reel without the need for additional equipment, space, or costs, and where at least one of the wires may be dispensed independently of the remaining wires.